A moving, funny and wise new novel by one of the masters of European literature.

MAGNIFICENT' GUARDIAN
'A TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT' FINANCIAL TIMES
'INVENTIVE, BOLD, UNEXPECTED' THE SUNDAY TIMES

'The kind of novel summer is made for: instantly immersive, effortlessly wise'
Observer

'Masterly: a cabinet of curiosities and delights, packed with small wonders'
Ian McEwan

'Pulls off the extraordinary feat of making you believe he is writing for your ears alone'
Howard Jacobson

'A remarkable accomplishment, a true gift to the world'
Michael Cunningham

'Ardent, gripping, and inventive to the core'
Jhumpa Lahiri

Marco Carrera is 'the hummingbird,' a man with the almost supernatural ability to stay still as the world around him continues to change.
As he navigates the challenges of life - confronting the death of his sister and the absence of his brother; taking care of his parents; raising his granddaughter; coming to terms with his love for the enigmatic Luisa - Marco Carrera comes to represent the quiet heroism that pervades so much of our everyday existence.
A surprising and deeply moving reinvention of the family saga, this is a thrilling novel about the need to look to the future with hope and live with intensity to the very end.

A wonderful book that covers so many bases, while the protagonist keeps his position and moves little in relation to all that is happening around him - he is 'the hummingbird'. The structure is inventive and varied, and contains a rainbow of emotions, played pizzicato across a lifetime of families at their best and worst. It's wry, eccentric, perceptive, creative, nostalgic - you name it, there's many a bell inside the pages that will ring just for you. It really is as good as the stellar list of authors on the back (Ian McEwan, Howard Jacobsen, Jhumpa Lahiri etc) who line up to sing the praises of both the author and this extraordinary book